Burkina Faso: 14 dead in clashes near border with Mali
Gunmen killed four Burkina Faso soldiers and injured five others near the Malian border a day after 10 civilians died in a separate nearby attack, the army and security officials said.
Jihadist groups, already a security headache for neighbouring Mali and Niger, have rapidly spread into Burkina Faso’s remote north, killing soldiers and civilians in a spate of attacks.
The soldiers killed in Monday’s assault were from an anti-terrorism unit operating in the Nassoumbou area, the army said in a statement. The same unit lost 12 soldiers in December 2016 in an attack claimed by Ansarul Islam, an al Qaeda-linked insurgent group.
On Sunday unidentified gunmen targeted a road leading to a market in Sikire, in the same region, killing 10 civilians, security sources told Reuters.